Sonic Forever
by SJ777
Summary: Heroes are mortal, but legends live forever... 200 years after Sonic rocked the world, a mysterious warrior is defrosted from ice and helps a legend begin anew!
1. Out from the ice

_An idea I've been carrying around for quite some time, now I think I'd better let it out before it starts wrecking the place. Also, a pal of mine does another 'Sonic Future' style RPG, but that is not related or similar to this._

_D/S: I do not own Sonic, or any and all related trademarks. I do, however, own all original characters, equipment and concepts in this fanfic. Anyway, TO THE STORY!_

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…it has been 200 years since Sonic, his friends, and other heroes made their mark on history defending the Earth from all threats to it…

…now, Sonic and his crew survive in legends, stories, and some historical fact…

…it is an age of galactic exploration, where interstellar ships have dropped drastically in price and training requirements, causing a new wave of explorers, traders, wanderers and whatnot to spread out across the stars…

…you would expect someone like Sonic would happily join them…

…it just happens, someone did…

Four figures trudged along the bottom of a canyon on a dark, distant moon. Surprisingly, there is oxygen, and the climate is well enough for Earth life to survive with minimal support.

"Are we there yet? We're going too slow, I'm bored…" says a young male voice some may find familiar.

"Shut up already, Junior…" says a serious, somewhat stressed female voice with a hint of command.

"The signal seems to the strengthening," says another female voice. "We're getting very close, so we shouldn't be long."

"Great." Says the first voice.

The four continue to trudge along the flat bottom of the dark-hued moon. Then, they come into a widening in the cavern, with light. The light reveals the four figures.

One, the leader, is the commanding female. She appears to be an amalgamation of several species- the quills of a hedgehog, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a fox. Her quills and fur are green, and she is wearing a captain's uniform. Written on the uniform is her name- Captain Amelia Thorn.

The other female is a young lady fox, wearing a field vest and glasses and holding a small scanner device- obviously some kind of scientist. Her name is on a tag - Vulpis.

Another figure, the one who stayed quiet, is an orange echidna wearing a tattered mechanic's uniform and a pair of goggles. His name, barely discernable from the grease on his outfit, is Crusher.

The last one, who complained, is a blue hedgehog- and the perfect likeness of Sonic. But for a stylish combat vest, he could easily be mistaken for the ancient hero. Even his parents noted his similarities to the greatest legend of all and gave him a name to match- Sonic Junior.

"It looks like the light's coming from over there!" said Sonic Jr, pointing to a brighter glow coming from around a corner.

The four ran over to the source of the mysterious radio signal. They stopped when they reached it and could not help but stare.

A huge opaque block of ice shaped like a cylinder stood in the middle of the wide part of the canyon, radiating light and reflecting its surroundings. Vulpis was first to spot a console on the bottom, and ran over to it.

"Hmm…" she studied the buttons and lights, and then looked at the ice block. "This must be a cryogenic suspension block! And by the look of this equipment, over a hundred years old."

"I wonder what's inside." said Amelia.

"There's only one way to find out!" Sonic Jr said excitedly. "Vulpis, have you worked out how to defrost this thing?"

"Hold on a sec…" the fox said as she checked over the controls. "…the date on this says it was frozen 200 years ago!"

"That was about the age of Sonic…" said Sonic Jr.

"I dunno," said Crusher, the first words the mechanic had said since landing. "Who knows what or who could be in there… might have something to do with your namesake, but I don't know if it's wise…"

"I agree." said Vulpis. "This is a large personal unit, it could contain anyone."

"But if we don't try, we'll never know!" said Sonic Jr. "And I hate never knowing!"

Vulpis goes back to the controls. "Good point Sonic, and this could be the archaeological find of the century!" But then she hesitates. "Uh, if it's all right with you, Captain?"

They all turn to Amelia, who thinks for a moment.

"Well…" she begins, to two pleading pairs of eyes and one indifferent. "All right, but I'd better not be held totally responsible for whatever happens after we defrost it."

Sonic Jr cheered, and Vulpis set to work. "A few buttons there, a switch there… There, I've done it. It's set to defrost."

Steam began to burst forth from the block as it converted to vapour, designed to wake up any occupants intact. It also clouded all visibility as after 200 years, the cryogenic block fulfilled its purpose and reawakened its inhabitants in a new age.

After a few minutes, the steam cleared, and the occupants of the block could be seen by all.

What they saw shocked them.

Two dazed figures facing each other. One was a human male in his late teens, fairly tall, wearing a white military shirt, blue pants and several weapons on his ammo belt. Sonic Jr recognised him instantly.

"That's… the great hero Sabre… who fought alongside Sonic…"

The other figure was far more ominous. A three-metre tall cyborg who towered over Sabre, covered in weapons and devices, the only human features visible were his mouth and part of his face. What emotion you could find wasn't pleasant. It was Amelia who recognised this one.

"Cyberlord…" she said, fear quelling up in her voice. "The great technological tyrant, arch-enemy of Sabre…"

Both shook off their cryo-induced daze, looked around, then locked eyes with each other. Two enemies. Hero and tyrant. Warrior and warlord. Techno-knight and king of the machines.

Cyberlord looked around, briefly checked the spaceship crew, and levelled his guns at Sabre.

"Now…" he said, in a chilling mechanical tone. "I believe I was just about to destroy you once and for all…"

"Don't count on it, buddy. Not then, not now, not ever…" responded Sabre, as he moved into attack position and levelled his laser sword.

_Sabre and Cyberlord are my first two totally original fanchars, yes, there is a past story here you haven't heard about, I like to incorporate it into some of my other stories I write._

_Sorry if the other characters are a little cheesy right now, I'm still developing their personalities._

_As they say, review at will!_


	2. Blades and blood samples

_I don't own Sonic, or this would be a TV show. Or maybe a game. Alas, I'm stuck with fanfic. Copy off me if you want a brutal, crude, painful death._

Cyberlord took a millisecond to check his arm guns were fully functional. Then he opened fire.

Sabre back flipped away from the blasts which destroyed the end of the capsule floor he was standing on, then span his sword to deflect a dozen more shots that came his way. Cyberlord responded by firing off half a dozen small missiles at the warrior- Sabre flipped out his blue laser pistol and, in a blur of shots, hit and destroyed each one- with two shots to spare. The remaining laser shots hit and destroyed Cyberlord's missile launchers. The warlord growled as he ejected the useless remains of his launchers and stepped back, while Sabre reloaded.

As Sabre quickly replaced the small energy capsule that powers his gun, he looked over at the spaceship crew that had released him. He saw the lady in command, who reminded him of someone he used to know, an echidna mechanic, and…Sonic!

Then his eyes caught the lady fox. Young and beautiful, but those glasses gave her a vulnerable look not like another, similar fox he had also once known. Sabre's eyes met hers for a moment… Then she spoke. Shouted, actually.

"Look out!"

Sabre's distraction nearly cost him his life- he barely ducked the energy blast which singed the top of his dark, bushy hair. Cyberlord chuckled as his energy cannon folded back into his left arm. "Never could resist the ladies, could you Sabre?" he taunted.

"You jealous or what?" snapped back Sabre as he ran in for a strike with his sword. Cyberlord activated the red blade on his right arm and parried the blow. For a few moments the blades flashed and whirled in the air as Cyberlord defended against dozens of lightning-quick blows from the warrior who lived up to his name.

A counter was too slow, energy flashed, and Cyberlord groaned in pain as his right arm was severed at the elbow (revealing it to be fully robotic). The cyborg lashed out with his left arm, but Sabre blocked it with a kick and slashed Cyberlord's chest, leaving a large, smoking, sparking gash. Sabre stepped back, and the cyborg growled as he steadied himself. "This is the last time, Sabre." He said with anger and menace. "Wherever we are, whatever time we happen to be in, I'll find a way to get rid of you for good…"

Thrusters popped out of the cyborg's back and sides, a helmet popped up over Cyberlord's head, and the warlord lifted off the ground, out into the stars. Sabre watched him until he disappeared into the void of space.

"Don't count on it, flyboy." He muttered.

Then Sabre turned to the four who had rescued him. "Thanks for the defrost. Sorry about the cyborg. Guess it had to happen sometime."

"So, you're telling me you tricked Cyberlord into entering the cryo-capsule with you, then set it to freeze you both and eject?" said Amelia, after hearing Sabre's story.

"Yep," said Sabre. "It was the only way I could stop him. Sonic and his lot were barely holding out against Eggman and his cronies, the League were taking on those crazy mercs and Cyberlord had 'bots coming from every direction. I had to find some way to disable the psycho before we all got wiped out, so I used the cryo-capsule he'd gone and stolen from me."

"You sacrificed yourself…" said Sonic Junior.

"I had nothing to lose." said Sabre casually.

They were sitting in the rec room of Amelia's ship, a light cruiser named Star Thorn. The captain had allowed them to bring Sabre aboard, while Vulpis directed the cargo robots that brought the remains of the cryo-capsule into the cargo hold for later study. Then a door whizzed open and Vulpis stepped in.

"All right, I'm finished with the capsule. Sabre… I thought you had better have a medical examination, please come with me…" said the fox, a bit shyly.

Sonic Jr chuckled as Sabre followed Vulpis through the door.

"HOW many uni degrees have you got!" said Sabre, gobsmacked.

"Four," said Vulpis, modestly. "I got a degree in astrophysics when I was twelve, high-energy technology when I was fifteen, nanotechnology and molecular science when I was seventeen and general medicine when I was nineteen. I'm a very fast learner." She quickly explained to the stunned warrior sitting on a bench in the medbay.

"Must be." said Sabre. "I guess all that makes you pretty handy on a ship."

"Actually, Amelia was the only one who would have me after I asked over a dozen captains. Crusher really does more, he's an ace mechanic. Can you roll up your sleeve?"

"Sure." Sabre pulled up his right sleeve just enough for Vulpis to get a blood sample, using a small, strange device that extracted exactly a millilitre, but Sabre stopped just below the tattoo on his right shoulder. He had enough questions to answer as it was.

"Thanks. This'll only hurt a bit…"

Sabre was completely desensitized to pain after a short but intense lifetime of fighting, but he did feel a pleasant tingling as the lady fox's hands touched his skin. After a moment, Vulpis took the sampler over to a computer and inserted it into a small plug. Sabre looked at the place where the blood was taken, and was surprised to see that a small film of liquid the sampler had dispensed after filling had hardened over the wound, quickly healing it. "No viruses, blood cell levels normal…" said Vulpis, reading off the screen. "…everything's pretty much okay… Wow. You seem to be in excellent health, Sabre, and a remarkable physical specimen…"

Sabre chuckled. "Well, I gotta stay fit to stay alive and appealing…"

"Uh-yeah. Also, I just want to check that shirt of yours for organic fibres of any kind. If they came from 200 years ago, the research potential is staggering…"

"Really?"

"Yes, if there's but a fibre of Sonic's fur on you, I can use it to check with Sonic Junior's DNA, see if he really is a descendant of the great hero. Now just keep still…"

Before Sabre could ask exactly what she was doing, Vulpis picked up a scanning device and turned it on, projecting an indigo light on Sabre's white shirt. The scanner buzzed when it found but a tiny fragment of hair, skin or debris, and Vulpis picked it off with a pair of tweezers. After a few minutes and checking most of Sabre's body, she was done.

"Thanks!" said the fox, depositing the specimens in small test tubes. "I'll have to fully check your clothes sometime…"

"Be my guest!" said Sabre.

Vulpis blushed furiously. "Uh, well, we're done. Thank you!"

Sabre chuckled as he hopped off the bench. "Your welcome."

_I think I'll stop here. You know the drill people- read and frickin' review! Questions? Comments? Throw 'em in! Like my characters? Hate them? Can't decide? Tell me!_

_Sorry I haven't given Sonic Junior much exposure, how about having the next chapter all about him?_


	3. The Place Downtown

_Don't own Sonic or related concepts; do own Sabre and related original characters._

"Well, as captain, this leaves me in an awkward situation." said Amelia to her crew assembled in the lounge. "I really just don't know what to do with you, Sabre."

"She has a point," said Vulpis. "Though we know you're a sort of living legend, there is no record of your birth or citizenship anywhere on Earth, and if it wasn't for some old records and a slew of legends you wouldn't technically exist."

Sabre leaned back, and said "Wouldn't be surprised. I haven't called any place home for a long time. More or less lived on the run since my teens, in fact a lot like your sire." he motioned to Sonic Jr, who was taken aback.

"Hey, nobody really knows if he was really-"

"Enough!" said Amelia, "We have to stay on subject. I think I ought to check with the government on Earth-"

"Hey, how's Earth been since I was away? I hope those terrorists weren't too much for-"

"Shut up Sabre!" shouted Amelia.

Sonic Junior said "Wow, normally I'm the one she's telling to-"

"SHUT UP SONIC JUNIOR!" Amelia now yelled.

"Y'know, she really does remind me of someone…" said Sabre thoughtfully

Sonic Junior asked with interest "Hey, who do you think-"

"SHUT UP SABRE AND SONIC JUNIOR!" thundered Amelia, now out of patience.

Sabre and Sonic Junior both shrunk back in their seats. "Yes ma'am." they said simultaneously.

"Thank you…" said Amelia. "In fact, I think the best course of action is to go to Earth and take you to a government office where we can try to figure something out. You can even take a short refresher course to see how much has changed since you were frozen as well. Junior, you're responsible for our guest until we get this sorted. Alright, everyone?"

Everyone in the lounge nodded. Amelia sighed and started walking back to the cockpit to chart a course. "I wish I had a ship with a proper meeting room." she said quietly to herself. "And a bridge…"

A few days later, the Star Thorn arrived at Earth, thanks to the magic of warp drive. After a brief trip to a government hall, a long wait in a queue line and an awkward series of procedures, Amelia had authorised the doubly annoying duo of Sonic and Sabre to leave the building and explore Grand Metropolis while she and Vulpis completed the paperwork. Crusher had stayed with the ship to perform the perennial maintenance a starship requires, even one as small as the Star Thorn.

Sabre looked around as he and Sonic walked out from the building; Grand Metropolis hadn't changed all that much in the two centuries he had been gone, except it was even bigger, and it was already the largest and most prominent city in the world 200 years ago…

Sabre looked up at the buildings; the skyscrapers were twice as high as he remembered. Then he looked down from the platform they were walking along- the streets went deeper than he had ever remembered, Sabre must have been standing in the lower stratosphere…

"Pretty impressive isn't it?" said Sonic Junior, breaking Sabre from his spell. "A bitch to get around though." Junior got out a small device from his vest pocket and pressed a few buttons. Around thirty seconds later, a small hover-taxi pulled up next to them.

"Hey there, Sonic!" said the bobcat driving the taxi. "Long time no see! Where to?"

Sonic Junior jumped into the taxi, and Sabre clambered after him. "The place downtown thanks, you know the way." said Junior.

"You're the boss!" said the driver, whose nametag revealed that his name was Jase. Jase then slammed down the accelerator and the hover car rocketed off, slamming Sabre into the seat. Sonic Junior seemed unperturbed.

"You alright Sabre? Haven't you ever gone this fast before?" he asked.

"In a jet, yes. In a taxi, no." said Sabre.

In less than a minute they reached their destination, somewhere half-way down an inner-city block. Sonic Junior thanked and paid the driver and jumped out, while Sabre fell out the other side. Sabre got up as the taxi zoomed off.

The warrior surveyed his surroundings. They looked decidedly decrepit. This was obviously one of the older, seedier parts of town which the authorities had somewhat forgotten. Light came from nearby, where people were entering a pulsating club.

"Ah, my favourite urban hangout!" said Sonic Junior as he headed for the entrance. Sabre looked up and saw the place was actually called The Place Downtown.

Ah, a nightclub. This wasn't unfamiliar territory for Sabre, who got up and looked assertive as he walked in with Sonic Junior.

Sabre was stunned and stopped in his tracks yet again. The place was big, quite big, and had a bar, disco and gaming room all in one. And it was packed with people. Mostly young people, of all different races, colours, styles, attitudes… Sabre could barely take in the sea of clothing, hair, skin, fur, leather, scales and feathers, a huge mass of youth congregating to talk, drink, dance, mingle, gamble or simply waste time. Sonic Junior headed for the bar, and Sabre followed him through the crowd.

"One Blue Emerald, thanks!" said Sonic Junior to the bartender. Sabre looked around for a menu, found one and didn't recognise a single thing.

"Uh…"

"And a Light Blue as well." said Junior.

Sabre noted the drinks seemed to be named after the Chaos Emeralds. A moment later two martini glasses containing sparkling, crystal-like liquids were put on the bar and Sonic Junior picked them up, and handed the light blue one to Sabre. As they pushed their way to a table, Sabre asked "Uh… these things alcohol, or what?"

"Alcohol? No way." Sonic Junior answered as he found a small, empty table and sat down at it. "More like stimulants, plenty of sugar. You'd go for a Purple or Grey if you were looking for that kind of stuff."

Sabre sat down opposite Junior and sipped his drink. It tasted sweet, but very pleasant. "Nice." he said. Now he had a drink, Sabre automatically switched to tomcat mode, and scanned the room for prospective female targets. "So what's up with the girls in this century?" he asked.

"Oh, what?" said Junior. "Jeez, the legends were true… Uh, I don't really know, tell you the truth. I'm not that crazy about girls right now, I'm just waiting for the right time…"

"Any time's the right time…" said Sabre, as he locked on target to a curvy young lady wearing black who looked like she had a little canine blood in her. No matter the time or place, Sabre's tactics were universal, and took a sip from his drink, got up and walked over in her direction.

Junior sneaked over near him as well; he was interested in seeing Sabre's notorious seduction techniques in action and hoped to pick up a few pointers as well. But shortly after Sabre had just started, a musclebound youth also in black parted the crowd and stomped over to him.

"Whatta you think you're trying to pull, ya weirdo!" said the large young male. "You're talking with one of us!"

"I mean no offence pal, what are you upset about?" said Sabre calmly- though a good fight was as good enough a night for him as anything.

"Hold on guys!" said Sonic Junior, rushing up to them with surprising speed. "Uh Sabre, that girl and that guy are members of the Black Metals-"

"Grunt level street gang, I collected that." said Sabre. He turned back to the gang member. "Sorry dude, I'm from out of town, haven't had much Earth contact in a couple of years."

_A couple of centuries, to be precise._ Thought Sonic Junior.

"Hey, ease off Brek." said the girl. "This guy isn't half bad. Why don't you test him?"

"All right." said Brek the grunt gang member. "Can you handle a hoverboard?" he said to Sabre.

Sabre smirked. "Can you stand around and yell at people?"

"All right, meet me outside!" said Brek. "Friend of yours?" he asked Sonic Junior.

"Kinda. We picked him up a few parsecs from Centaurus. Long story which you probably wouldn't believe." said Junior.

"Right." said Brek, and he stomped off.

The girl followed him. She turned back a second and said seductively to Sabre "Don't disappoint me…"

_Aaaaaaaaand- that's a wrap. Sonic Junior and Sabre switch between being totally at home or completely out of their depth, and Amelia laments that not only does she have a starship crew of three (perhaps now four), but also that it only takes two of them and her to run their ship. Haha, space exploration! Look out people, I'm going to be parodying everything from Star Trek to Doctor Who to Futurama!_

_  
Questions? Comments? Proposals? Lawsuits? Like my characters and/or the relationships between them? Hate the lot? Think the sun shines out where my tail should be? You know what to do people… but I'm going to say it just to be sure; REVIEW!_

_As for next chapter… You got nothing, McFly!_


	4. The Speed of a Hero?

_Sonic and related concepts ain't mine; I think everything else is, though things are tricky._

_No, I didn't get the idea from Sonic Riders. If anything, I think Sega stole my idea. But I'll be referencing it slightly- key word slightly, because I haven't played it._

Hoverboards were easily available in Sabre and Sonic's time, and while Sabre was quite capable of using one, he rather preferred his motorcycle. Sonic Jr was right to be worried as Sabre stepped up to the spare board next to the ganger called Brek, surrounded by dozens of spectators.

Sonic Jr crept up behind Sabre and said "Uh, Sabre I ought to tell ya, I think hoverboards today are a lot faster than they used to be…"

"Faster. Got it. Sweet!" said Sabre as he stepped onto the board.

"All right man," said Brek, "Beat me to the hover shop down the end of this street and I might take it easy on you, got it?"

"Yeah yeah." said Sabre, focusing on the way ahead.

Sonic Jr yelled "Remember, step on the blue square to accelerate, red to brake!"

Brek gave Sabre a look. "How long you been off-planet for?"

"Let's just say I'm older than I look." replied Sabre.

Then the semi-canine chick dropped a flag, and they were off.

Brek quickly took off from the ledge, while Sabre stalled, then shot forward. "Oh jeez…" said Junior.

The two racers flew at lightning speed through the bottomless street, Sabre keeping up through sheer recklessness and luck as he barely dodged hover-cars, wires and all kinds of other obstacles. Sabre hadn't participated in the hoverboard tournament, though he had watched it, and practiced a bit… while slightly drunk…

"What's keeping ya, huh?" taunted Brek as he burst ahead. Sabre, angered, stamped the blue square and shot forwards, bouncing off a wall and grinding on a wire.

Sabre gave Brek the finger and angled down; heading for the club which was the finish line for the race… then a spark came from his board. Sabre noticed this, and quietly swore.

Several more sparks followed. Then a small explosion occurred inside the overloaded, misused hoverboard, and Sabre began plummeting to his doom.

Sonic Junior, the girl and several other spectators had been racing after the hoverboards in a van driven by a friend of Brek's. "Dude!" said Junior when he saw Sabre lose air, "He's in trouble! Step on it!"

The van angled down and raced towards the falling Sabre- not nearly fast enough to catch it. "She won't go any faster, man!" said the driver.

"Shit! SABRE!" yelled Sonic Junior, seeing his new friend, only link to his ancient namesake and… hero, falling to an untimely death.

Then, instinct kicked in.

Sonic Junior leapt right out of the open window, and propelled himself towards the building wall. He then followed Sabre's path in an insane pattern of leaping, grinding and dodging all manner of wires, pipes, walls and structures- at a speed unreachable by any other living creature. Speed seen here had never before been seen in this day and age. It was speed that only existed in legend…

_Well, this is finally it_ thought Sabre as he fell. He figured that he, in his ignorance and recklessness, had pushed the retail-grade hoverboard far beyond what it was ever meant to do, breaking every rule the teenagers of this day and age knew by heart. It was his mistake. Sabre knew death was coming sooner or later; he would fight all he could but accept it when it came.

Then a blue blur dropped out of the light and grabbed him. _What the hell? _He thought.

Carrying a surprised Sabre, Sonic Junior seemed to fly right back up to the balcony of the club, and landed in the middle of an astonished crowd and dropped Sabre. Junior stopped to catch his breath… what the heck had he done? The last few seconds were a blur to him… Then he looked up, and saw Sabre, a recently landed Brek, and a whole crowd of teenage onlookers all staring at him. One of them summed it up.

"That was so COOL!"

The crowd then burst into cheering, congratulations and questions. Junior looked around, confused. He saw the van finally land with the girl jumping out. "What…" he asked, "What happened?"

Random onlookers burst into speech.

"You just saved that guy's life, that's what happened!"

"You're so fast I barely saw it!"

"I think I got it on camera!"

"You're like, Sonic himself!"

Everyone seemed to be talking to Junior at once. He looked around, and saw Brek walking up to him. "You just won the race for your friend there, you know. Without using a board."

Then everyone went quiet as Sabre himself got back up, having regained his senses. He looked around, then looked right at Sonic Junior, and smiled. "My friend," he said, "I am nothin' but a psycho with guns who gets in more trouble than I'm worth. But you are the fastest thing on two legs ever to walk this universe!"

The crowd burst into a huge cheer, while Sabre thumped him on the shoulder and saluted. On the other side of the plaza, he saw a hover-taxi land with Amelia and Vulpis jumping out.

The two girls pushed their way through the crowd, who were getting handshakes and high-fives from the still bewildered, embarrassed Sonic Junior. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" exclaimed Vulpis, running over to Sabre. "Are you all right? My gosh, Sabre!"

"We saw everything," said Amelia, looking at Junior sternly. She paused. "…how on earth did you do that!"

"I don't know," said Junior sheepishly. "I just… did it."

Then the canine girl from the bar walked over to Junior through the dissipating crowd. She looked at Sabre. "Don't bother with me," said the gunner, whom Vulpis was making absolutely sure was all right. "This guy's the hero!" he said, pointing to Sonic Junior.

The girl then went up to Sonic Junior and kissed him on the cheek. "You're my kind of hero, Sonic Junior." She said, before walking away. Junior blushed.

Amelia just stared. "Oooo… kay. Well anyway, it's time for you boys to get back to the ship; I've got an announcement to make."

A while later, while the autopiloted ship was entering orbit, Amelia assembled her full crew. The captain examined her crew, then stood firm in front of them and cleared her throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she said, "I have had some paperwork organised to do with our new friend, Sabre here. Since he has no existing record in the government database, they have agreed to create one for him with a clean slate. I know you need a job, Sabre, and I just happen to need a new crewmate, so I've drawn up a deal for you."

Amelia produced a document and put it on the coffee table, in front of Sabre. "This, Sabre, is a recruitment form for the Star Thorn. I propose that you can stay aboard this ship and accompany my crew on our future missions for as long as you wish, in return for your loyalty and duty as Security Officer for this ship. I already have a science officer," she indicated Vulpis, "An engineer," indicating Crusher, "and a navigator." She said finally, pointing to Sonic Junior. "With you," she continued, "My ship has the proper crew to function as a private exploration vessel. My only question is; do you accept." She slid the form across to Sabre.

Sabre took the contract and carefully read it. He looked over it a few times, then put it down and thought for a second. He looked at his crewmates. Then he looked at his captain.

"Count me in!" he said. "Got a pen?"

The crew of the Star Thorn cheered as the ship went into hyperspace, bound for the edge of infinity.

_Aaaand that's a wrap! Now, they go out into the universe…_

_If you have read this, I ask you nicely to review, even if you have before. It lets me know that people have been reading my work, and encourages me to go on- also giving me vital feedback on what I'm doing right and wrong._

_Next, I might do some action, and introduce a new character…_


	5. Spot the Obvious Reference

_You know how the disclaimer goes. Now read, and start taking notes for your review._

Sonic Junior pelted at full bore, feeling the adrenalin rush through his mind, focusing, feeling the wind, reaching maximum speed-

"Junior, you're going to break that treadmill in a minute."

Distracted by the sound of Amelia's voice, Junior missed a step and fell over onto the treadmill which sent him flying across the room into a wall. He recovered to the sight of Amelia standing over him.

"I'm impressed by your speed, I've got to say, but I think you need to… chill out."

Sonic Junior leapt to his feet and shook off the daze. "No way ma'am, I've got to find out exactly what my powers are, so when-"

Junior was suddenly cut off by an explosion, and he grabbed Amelia and hit the floor. The smoke cleared to reveal a small hole in the wall to the lab next door, through which Vulpis could be seen juggling a red-hot gun in her hands, which she then dropped. Sabre got up from crouching behind cover. "Well…" he said. "Maybe that wasn't the best idea, using hypercharged energy cells in my pistol…"

Vulpis cooled her hands off and looked at the gun on the floor, thoughtfully. "Still, Sabre, you can't go around using equipment from two centuries ago, no matter how good. We've got to find a way to update your battle technique…"

"I agree, but let's try and not get ourselves killed doing it!"

"I second that!" said Amelia, being helped up by Sonic Junior. "On both accounts. Nobody under my command is going to be using antique-"

Then Amelia was cut off by an alarm coming from her wrist console. She pressed a button and a holo-screen came up. Sonic looked closely, and Sabre and Vulpis looked through the hole in the wall. "We've got something incoming on scanners!" said Amelia, alarmed. "Quick, everyone to central! That's an order!"

The crew of the Star Thorn were soon assembled in the central room of the ship, uneasy. Amelia ran back out from the cockpit. "Scanners indicate a spacecraft heading towards us, which isn't transmitting any identification codes, nor responding to our hails. The Star Thorn is now in a state of yellow alert, ladies and gentlemen."

"Wait," said Sonic Junior, "You think they could be hostile?" Amelia nodded.

"I'm gonna go lock 'n load, boys." said Sabre, running back to the lab.

"Good idea." said Amelia. Then her wrist console beeped again. "We've got visual!"

The crew crowded around the holo-screen again, which projected an image of the spacecraft, which Amelia identified. "It's an expedition ship, like ours but bigger… looks beaten up, no identification… twenty, thirty crew by the look of it."

"I don't see any weapons." said Vulpis, looking closely. "Wait…"

On the other ship, a panel could be seen moving and turning over, revealing a torpedo launcher. And on top of that launcher was another black panel, emblazed with a skull and a pair of guns…

"Pirates." said Amelia. "Everyone, brace yourselves!"

The pirate ship launched a salvo of torpedoes at the Star Thorn, just as Captain Amelia and Sonic Junior leapt into the cockpit and set starboard shields at max. The torpedoes slammed into the protective force fields, exploding and violently rocking the ship- Sonic Junior and Amelia were strapped in and Crusher and Vulpis were holding on to whatever they could reach, but Sabre was knocked to the floor. The shields did their job though- none of the missiles got through.

"We can't relax yet!" said Amelia. "There'll be more where that came from!"

Sonic Junior started aiming the Star Thorn's own guns. "We'll give them some of whatever…"

Sabre ran back from the laboratory, in pain and muttering a string of expletives. "What the hell was that!"

"A warning shot." said Crusher. "If we don't surrender, they'll try to disable the ship, then board us."

Vulpis was picking herself up, in shock. "Oh my gosh… oh my gosh…"

"It's all right, Vulpis!" said Sabre, "I swear I'll find the SOB that fired that and…"

"Take this!" shouted Junior as he fired off two of the Star Thorn's laser cannons at the other ship. The shots didn't do much, but were absorbed by the pirate vessel's own shields.

Then the ship was rocked again, and the lights flickered. Sabre grabbed Vulpis as they hit the floor, and in the cockpit lights went red and alarms sounded.

"What have they done to my baby…" said Crusher, hoisting himself up.

"They're damaged our main power core!" shouted Amelia. "Now they're moving next to us- they're trying to board us!"

Sabre leapt to his feet and pulled out his other signature weapons- a pair of energy Uzis. "Let 'em come, I can take 'em on easy!"

Sonic Junior leapt from the cockpit and landed in the central room. "I'm with you, all the way!"

Amelia ran out. "Alright boys, but we're probably going to be up against twenty or thirty pirates here, maybe even more!"

Sabre smirked. "I didn't ask for the odds."

The airlock of the Star Thorn opened, and several large figures stepped through. They were three pirates, clad in armour and heavily armed. The lead one was a black sparrow with dirty feathers, an assortment of jewellery and equipment, a big black hat, clad in thick flak armour and holding a large gun. He stepped forward.

"All right, ya worthless Explorers, I'm Captain Blackwing, and now I own this puny ship, and all your worthless lives!"

Sabre and Sonic Junior were crouched behind makeshift barricades, Sabre muttering gruesome, expletive-ridden threats under his breath and Junior staring at the roughshod, dangerous-looking space pirates. But Captain Amelia Thorn strode past them, up to Captain Blackwing, and looked him in the eye. Sweetly but firmly, she stated "I'm afraid I have to disagree, Blackwing, for I own this ship and the crew are under my command, which I will not relinquish any time soon, and never to the likes of you."

Blackwing laughed. "Well then, little missy… I'm just going to have to take it then." He grinned. "Right lads?"

The two burly pirates either side of him chuckled.

"All right then…" said Amelia, stepping back. "But don't say I didn't warn you…" She drew her duelling laser pistol. A signal.

Sabre leapt up from the barricade and let fly with the energy bolts from his antiquated but still deadly submachine guns. "Yo ho this, pirate boys!"

Simultaneously, Sonic Junior ran up the wall on the other side of the corridor, and leapt at the pirate on the right- the last thing the buccaneer saw before unconsciousness was the bottom of Junior's red anti-friction shoe.

The infuriated Captain Blackwing brought his gun to bear, but his hat was shot off by Amelia's pistol, barely missing his head- and causing temporarily flash blindness. The pirate captain dropped his gun as he roared in pain, then he yelled "The rest of you worthless dogs, get the hell in here!"

Other pirates crammed through the airlock hatch and flooded into the ship. His eyesight returning, Blackwing looked back down the corridor- Sabre was being driven back by the onslaught, though still felling pirates with a withering hail of fire, while a blue bolt was leaping around the cabin, striking his crew unaware. Captain Thorn was nowhere to be seen.

Blackwing cursed and drew his energy cutlass. "I'll cut down that insolent wench myself…"

_To be continued. Can the Star Thorn crew hold the pirates off? Will Blackwing get his duel with Amelia? Where the hell are Crusher and Vulpis? How long is it gonna take me to write all this? All good questions that will only be answered next chapter…_


	6. He Hits like a Girl

_Belay the disclaimer, I had one at the start of the damned story. Prepare for ye swashbucklin'!_

Sonic Junior ran up the wall, lasers ricocheting just behind his feet, and launched himself at a pirate, delivering a super-speed punch that knocked him out- leaping off him, he took out another with a spinning kick and jumped over another burst of fire. But when he landed, he found himself against the wall, with pirates on every side…

"HHUUARGH!!!"

Suddenly half a dozen pirates were knocked across the room, several into their shipmates, by a massive swing of Crusher's huge wrench. The grease-covered, irate echidna ran out from the maintenance doorway and brought his makeshift yet effective weapon to bear. "Nobody messes up my baby! Nobody!"

Junior smiled and zipped up next to Crusher. "All right! Shall we?"

Crusher growled at the apprehensive yet regrouping pirates. "Let's get 'em."

Sonic Junior and Crusher charged together at the pirates, howling a battle cry as they unleashed their power- Junior's incredible velocity and Crusher's powerful strength. Junior leapt at individual pirates, striking their weak spots in a flurry of kicks and punches, while Crusher swang his oversized wrench around, knocking them in every direction. Then as the pirates regrouped near the airlock, Crusher opened the wrench, Sonic Junior spin jumped into its titan-adamantine claw, and Crusher began to whirl it around…

Then, like an Olympic athlete's gold medal throw, Crusher hurled Sonic Junior at the group of pirates, knocking them around like bowling pins and sending most right back into their ship. Junior jumped back from the mess and high-fived Crusher.

Sabre released his pent-up confusion and frustration in some good ol' fashioned gunplay as he spared no ammo at the waves of pirates. Amelia seemed to have seriously underestimated the number of the pirate crew, but they were also equipped with primitive personal force fields which protected against stray and glancing shots. Unfortunately for them, Sabre was no amateur marksman, and plenty had already fallen to his deadly energy bolts.

However, focusing on all offence left Sabre vulnerable, which he realised only when a shiny device was thrown at him and stuck to the shoulder strap of his belt.. Quickly deducing that it was a grenade of some sort, Sabre barely had time to tear off his well-stocked, highly explosive ammo belt and throw it in the direction of the pirates before it went off…

Sabre opened his eyes a few seconds later. Quickly checking himself, he found that the Kevlar-X vest he wore under his shirt had just managed to protect him from major injury, though it had been destroyed in the process. In front he could see a heavily blackened and smoking corridor, indicating the grenade had indeed set off a chain reaction in the energy capsules on his ammo belt, causing them all to explode and hopefully take out a number of the pirates in the process. Getting up and instinctively reaching for a weapon, Sabre found that his pistol and sword was missing, his other holster had been blown off, his submachine guns were nowhere to be seen, and even his backup pair of knives and harpoon pistol had disappeared.

The Sabre was unarmed.

That alone was reason to panic. Sabre had a natural amazing talent with all weaponry- but was pathetic when completely unarmed. He feared being unarmed like Sonic feared water, and for a similar reason- Sonic couldn't swim. The Sabre couldn't fight unarmed.

The normally fearless warrior hoped to whatever deities there be that he had taken out all of the pirates anyway with the sacrifice of his ammo belt as he pulled himself to his feet and looked around. Just as he sighed in relief, he froze as heavy footsteps could be heard from behind. Convincing himself to turn around, hoping it was just Crusher or someone, he looked back and saw, to his horror, a heavyset, scarred grey-furred canine pirate trudging towards him, growling. Sapped of his courage by his vulnerable state, Sabre turned and ran, frantically looking for something, anything to use as a weapon… then as he spotted Vulpis' lab, hopefully containing plenty of potential (if unusual) weaponry, something slammed into his back and sent him flying forward.

Meanwhile in another part of the ship, Captain Blackwing had three of his best men accompanying him as he trod through the halls, looking for the wretched captain of this ship. Even as an explosion rocked the ship, he barked to his bodyguard "Keep yer wits about ye! That damned insolent wench is around here somewhere!"

Nodding, the three cautiously led their captain down the hallway leading to the bridge- the last place Captain Thorn could be hiding. Then suddenly a turret gun popped out of each wall and blasted rapid fire at the pirates, who were caught unaware and barely managed to return some wild shots before being knocked down by the shots. Blacking roared and opened fire with his heavy gun, blowing up each of the turrets- then a shot from down the hallway went right into the barrel of Blackwing's gun and caused it to explode in his hands.

As Blackwing was cooling his hands (the armour gauntlets he wore had protected him from serious injury) a figure stepped down the hallway darkened by the failing lights. As it came nearer to the pirate Captain, it became clear it was Captain Amelia Thorn, holding a small, elegant duelling pistol in one hand. She remained cool and calm as she sheathed her pistol, and looked Blackwing right in the eye. "By the Anti-Piracy Decree of the Solar Confederation, I claim full right to use whatever force I deem necessary to neutralise the pirate threat to free interstellar travel, for all legal intents and purposes."

As Blackwing growled, Amelia drew a rapier that matched the pistol from her belt, and flipped a small switch which made the long thin blade glow with golden energy. "But for the sake of the old formalities, I'll let you try and match me with blades."

"Hah!" said the sparrow as he pulled out and activated his energy cutlass. "You're more full of it than any space captain I've ever beaten!"

Unperturbed, Amelia moved into a fencing pose. "En guarde, pirate." Said the captain…

The Sabre pulled himself to his feet once more, to find himself inside Vulpis' lab. He quickly turned around-

-to find himself face to face with the snickering pirate. As he began quickly looking for a weapon, the pirate grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. On reflex, Sabre punched the pirate in the chest- it hurt. It hurt Sabre that is. "Ow." He said as he withdrew his sore fist.

This was enough to make the pirate laugh out loud, so much that he let go of Sabre, who scrambled back. Then the pirate was hit by a small projectile, and suddenly lurched and shook as if electrocuted, then fell to the floor unconscious. Looking back, Sabre saw Vulpis holding the other end of a taser dart, a helpless look on her face. Sabre avoided her eyes as she slid his pistol over to him, and he said "Let's go." Without emotion as he took it and left to assist the others, Vulpis following behind.

Sabre and Vulpis ran into the hall junction to meet Sonic Junior and Crusher, who had run back from the airlock to check on their shipmates. Briefly shocked at Sabre's blasted appearance and uncharacteristic quietness, they all then wondered what had happened to their Captain- and where the pirate captain had disappeared to…

Their first question was answered a moment later when Amelia leapt back and landed in the middle of them, sword drawn, and the second when Blackwing followed after, and the two blades met in a furious flash of swordplay as they steadily moved back toward the airlock. The Star Thorn's crew were hesitant to intervene in the whirl of blades.

Then there was a flash, and Blackwing's scimitar went flying into the air, and landed clattering on the floor behind Amelia. The disarmed sparrow stepped back as he faced an iron-willed Captain Amelia Thorn, backed up by Sonic Junior looking ready to go, a wrench-brandishing Crusher and Sabre wielding a pistol and a dark look. Looking back to his beaten and demoralised crew, Captain Blacking made the decision to retreat. "This isn't over!" he shouted as he ran back into his ship and sealed the airlock, and the pirate vessel detached itself from the Star Thorn and escaped into hyperspace.

Some time later, a navy vessel had caught up with the Star Thorn and while Amelia was talking with the government officials, soldiers were carting off the pirates that hadn't managed to escape the Star Thorn in time and Sonic and Crusher were enthusiastically reporting the events to the other naval Marines, Sabre sat silently in the lab/medical bay as Vulpis patched up his injuries.

Vulpis felt awkward around Sabre who was avoiding eye contact and was quiet, a stark contrast to the loudmouthed, jolly gunner she had seen of him before. "You know…" said Vulpis, "You fought really bravely before, and…" she fell silent.

"Yeah." spat Sabre. "'Til I get my gun knocked outta my hands, and I turn into a coward. I'm just like any other moron- when I've got a gun I feel like I'm invincible, take it away and I'm just as pathetic as any other punk in this universe."

Vulpis was shocked. "Well… haven't you ever tried learning martial arts, or something? You learn so fast, I'm sure you could if you set your mind to it…"

Sabre looked like he was going to retort with something, then stopped. He then looked thoughtful. "You know…" he began. "Before I was frozen, back when I hanged with Sonic and his crew, and my old buddies, I never thought more than about thirty seconds into the future. I lived for the moment, and I was pretty sure I'd be dead before I got old enough for anything to really matter anyway." He paused. "Huh. The irony."

He then turned to Vulpis. "It's weird, y'know… I've barely been on this ship for a week, and I can already call it my home. I used to barely ever sleep in the same place for two nights in a row. I guess… things change. I can't go on being the mad gunner forever."

Vulpis chuckled slightly. "I guess not." Said the fox.

Sabre smiled. "I guess I've been… just so messed up for all these years. Angry. Upset. But all the people I met… the friends I made… they started to help me, to change who I was. I guess I became something of a hero. Maybe I should start living up to that. I've got to… start facing my fears, instead of just ignoring them…"

Vulpis was listening, and seemed quite surprised, but couldn't think of anything to say. "…what do you mean by that?" she finally asked.

Sabre smiled at her. "Well for starters… I think I need to hit the weights or something. No offence, but I'm tired of hitting like a girl."

_WHEW! Finally, after so much procrastination I get this done in a midnight spree! Sonic fans, the Sabre is BACK, and with a vengeance!_

_The next chapter I'll FINALLY leave Sabre out of the picture for a moment as the story will revolve around Sonic Junior- and a mysterious new face…_


End file.
